What’s Wrong With the Republican Party?

Why is there panic on the right? They’re suddenly, after all these years… well, centuries, actually…. thinking they must stop anybody from voting illegally.

Why now?

Is there evidence that there is more illegal voting than there has been for the last few centuries?

The answer is no.

The obvious conclusion is that the Republican Party is panicking. We’re all trying to guess why.

Their staunchest supporters are happy with the explanation that there should be NO illegal voting, and therefore why do we care?

Sounds pretty simple and reasonable, right? None of us want illegal voting – unless we are the ones planning to do it. However, finding that one person who is an illegal voter is like looking for a needle in a haystack, so there seems to be no need to panic.

There is panic. Why?

It’s fine for the rank and file Republican to say there should be no illegal voting so just go along with it. But the rest of us don’t want to be led around by the nose and told we shouldn’t think for ourselves.

The rest of us want to know why the panic now.

It doesn’t take a lot of deep thinking to realize that the panic has nothing to do with illegal voting. There is something much more sinister than one or two people voting illegally. Vote blocking is far more sinister. And that’s what is going on here.

About nine out of every ten people who voted for Romney in 2012 were white. Hispanics and African Americans came out in droves to vote against Mitt Romney and the Republican Party. They will do it again. And they are growing in number much faster than white people.

Funny thing about that. Hispanics are very religious people. Generally Catholic. Anti-abortion. Their men tend to want to be head of the family… the last word in the home, so to speak. What is keeping them from voting along with their fellow Christians on the right?

Oh… okay, they don’t like being treated like unwanted, second-class citizens. I get it.

But the Republican Party doesn’t get it. They also don’t get that women aren’t chattel anymore. They used to be. They don’t intend to be, again. Every man in the United States (black, white, Asian, Native American) was allowed to vote before they had to give in and give women the right to vote. Women know the score. There are still plenty of far right Christian women who believe, as they’re taught by the men in their churches, that a woman’s place is behind their husbands. I know that’s true. I know them. But they’re dwindling fast in number.

Former Bush Administration official Pete Wehner said:

“It’s an undeniable empirical truth that the GOP coalition is shrinking, and it’s shrinking in the aftermath of two fairly decisive defeats, with the latter coming against a president whose policies were judged by many Americans to have been failures. Which means the Republican task isn’t simply to nominate a candidate who can fire up the base; it is to find principled conservative leaders who can win over voters who are not now voting for the GOP at the presidential level.” (1)

This isn’t news to anybody who follows the news.

But it is being denied on the right. It is being ignored by Republican leaders, and denied by their voters. They insist they are doing fine and that they should just double down on what they’re doing.

--Blocking votes by making voting much more difficult for many Democrats. The leaders deny they’re doing that. Their voters say these Democrats deserve it if they can’t find a way around the long lines, polling places moved to distant areas, hours of voting shortened significantly, changing what is needed to vote (knowing many people do not follow the news and will go to vote and then find out they can’t) – in general, saying it’s okay to do that because it works for you. If it works for you, it should work for everyone, and if it doesn’t work for someone they don’t deserve to vote.

--Blocking laws that support women’s rights. The leaders don’t talk about it openly. They just do it. The voters deny they’re doing it.

--Redistricting on a grander scale than has ever been seen. Perfect evidence of panic. Their leaders ignore the topic. Their voters claim it was done by Democrats too, therefore it’s okay. Two wrongs do make a right. The only thing is this time it’s far, far more prevalent across the country than the Democrats have done. I don’t condone it by Democrats. I’m just laying out the evidence of a panic on the right.

--Refusing to work on immigration reform. Why? The leaders know that deporting millions of Hispanics is, first, impossible… and second, it will hurt the economy. But their voters claim they won’t vote for anybody (like Jeb Bush) who says it’s wrong and cruel to rip families apart like that. Their voters want Hispanics punished. They want to see them hurt. They want to see them cry. They don’t care whether they’re good people or not. Just shove them across the border and let them starve there. They don’t care if it hurts the U.S. economy to lose so many businesses and employees and more than anything, to lose so many customers. You can be sure Wal-Mart will not back such a deal. They’d lose tons of money. Landlords would lose renters. Universities would lose students. Every conceivable business (dry cleaners, restaurants, supermarkets, medical professionals, utility companies, movies, book sellers… ) Many of them would go out of business if we suddenly found a way to ship millions of Hispanics south. That’s why the leaders won’t talk about reform. They don’t want to turn off their voters, whom they know already are not able, somehow, to figure the truth out on this topic. But the leaders also refuse to work on tighter borders and better paths to true citizenship. They refuse. You deny. Hispanics vote Democratic.

In a way I hope the Republican voters never come to the truth, because I have every confidence that there are at least three groups who’d move right over to the Republican Party if they cleaned up their act.

Christian women on the left would vote Republican if that party would embrace them as equal citizens, with equal rights.

Christian Hispanics would jump ship in a New York minute if the Republican Party would work toward a humane solution to the problem of too many undocumented Hispanics here in this country.

Christian African-Americans (most of them are more religious than white Christians) would head straight for the Republican ballot if that party would recognize their human rights – would finally stop sneering at them and begin to see them as valued citizens.

You know what those groups represent? A need for more humane treatment of human beings who have human needs that are not being met by the Republican Party.

Fix it and they will come. Then the Democratic Party would be scrambling hard to get a president elected again.

Why? Because that would leave far too few Democrats to be a majority. The Democratic Party is solidly middle of the road. There are few of them who are far left. Most are in the middle. Many of them are Christians. Few of them are radical left. There would not be enough radical lefties to ever win a single political race.

My hope is that the Republican Party and its voters do not change.

I see their demise, and it’s coming fast.

In red states we see them winning local or state races. But that’s because their voters have little competition in a red state. However, they can’t win a race that is nation-wide. Therefore, they can’t win the White House.

And there is more and more evidence every day that voters in the red states like Kansas are waking up. Polls are showing Kansas governor, Sam Brownback, doing poorly against Democratic candidate, Paul Davis. The voters in Kansas are realizing that it’s not just women or black and Hispanic people who’re suffering from Republican Brownback’s policies. It’s the entire middle class. People are waking up. Even Republican voters. The evidence of inhumane policies that hurt Kansans of all party affiliations is piling up.

What’s wrong with the Republican Party?

How about denial? How long will it take to open enough eyes to see the end of the party? They’re working hard on it, but for now I hope the party leaders and voters don’t catch on too soon. I haven’t seen a presidential candidate from them lately that I want to see in the White House.

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Where to begin? First off, Lucinda, the faux republican, knows all the secrets of the party, right? Illegal voting has been an issue for a long time and regardless of your false belief that it is out of fear, it is not. It is about the integrity of the system, which it seems most democrats including Lucinda, do not care about. Why? Because illegal immigrants who can received subsidies and hand outs from the democrats will vote for democrats in order to keep the free money coming to them. It is only common sense. If someone is giving you money, how likely would you be to vote that person out of office?

If I address every little mistruth in this blog, it would be 80 pages long. So let's pick just a few. First off, Lucinda, you say that most women vote democrats. Do you still believe that the millions of women who vote republican or conservative are just puppets being told how to vote by some conservative man? That these women cannot come to a logical and reasonable conclusion on their own? Do you honestly believe that these intelligent self thinking women are either blind to the party treating them as sub standard or could it really be that the republican party does treat them as equal. How do you explain that? Of course, you won't explain it and you run away from any discussion. No, it is people like you who feel that any woman who thinks differently than you must be an unintelligent buffoon. And with that, you are treating those same women with less respect than you claim their own party is treating them.

On immigration, is it really the republicans or could it also be the democrats? Here just a couple days ago, Harry Reid pulls the spending bill from a vote? Why did he do this? Because republicans were able to overcome an attempt by democrats to require 60 votes for adoption of amendments to the bill. A move that basically would ensure that republicans would not be able to add anything to the bill. Sad Harry Reid failed at this and rather than vote on amendments proposed by republicans, Reid pulls the whole bill from consideration.

Reid is afraid to have republican's put forth amendments in case some democrats think that they might be great ideas and vote for them. Those amendment would still need a majority. But clearly Reid is afraid of even considering other ideas. That must be a republican problem, right? But by Requiring a 60 vote threshold, Reid tries to make sure that only democratic ideas pass.

And if Reid would do this on spending, why would he not do this on immigration? If Reid is not willing to put republican ideas up for votes, then in reality, the problem is the democrats (for electing Reid as minority leader). Even though little Lucinda does not understand it, illegal MEANS illegal. To simply grant everyone amnesty is unreasonable and really unfair for those who have had to follow the rules. Truthfully, democrats do not care about immigrants. They only care about the potential for immigrants to vote for democrats.

In the end, here is the honest truth, the republican party will long long outlive you Lucinda.

Progressive democrats are the problem, always have been, always will be. That's why we should make abortions free and put abortion clinics on every other street corner. Heck, lets promise some freebies for getting an abortion, democrats are especially fond of freebies.

Part of the problem with the Republican party could be that there are dishonest, unethical liberals registering as Republicans, when they are actually ultra-far-left, socialist, anti-American liberals.

So you do not think Harry Reid is not part of the problem when he is unwilling to even consider other ideas and put them up for a vote. His party has the majority. What is he afraid of? That the republicans put forth an idea that several of his own party finds to be great and it passes?

He tried to make it so that it required 60 votes to pass an amendment and when his ploy failed, he pulled the bill. This clearly seems to be a democrat at the heart of the problem.

American Heritage Dictionary definition of fascism: "...a system of government that exercises a dictatorship of the extreme right, typically through the merging of state and business leadership, together with belligerent nationalism."

and the fairly typical response is to try to craft a personal attack and avoid the subject she presented. Then we just descend to another game of political ping-pong or beat the dead horse of "who did it to us, Bush or Obama"?

I think the argument that the GOP is in serious jeopardy because of demographics is totally valid. Karl Rove knows it as much as, say, James Carville.

When you are desperate, you may resort to desperate means. Lucy trotted out some of those means that we've already seen growing since 2000. There are more. The GOP is obviously cheating while calling Democrats frauds.

I look at election systems around the world and it seems that the fatal flaw is that elections can be rigged. Oh, but not in America. Oh, yes, in America.

That means that democratic systems are also in jeopardy, which means that the demos itself is challenged. And if we don't forge real democracies, what is left to the world's people? Oligarchies, autocrats, dictators, and anarchy. Those options are not indicative of progress. They are indicators that we are going backward. They indicate the world's governments are being sold to the highest bidders and the people abandoned.

The tea party actually emerged as a result of two national traumas: 9-11 and the Great Recession that we are still in.

The desperate GOP and neoliberal neocons working on the dissolution of economies latched onto the TP like it did the Christian Right. Now the party is a tripartate, essentially, with the neocon faction still trying to exert its hegemony. 2016 could be Romney vs. Clinton. With many of their best candidates floundering, Romney the vulture capitalist may be the most viable. And Democrats, in general, keep moving further to the right in a bought government.

But nobody in the White House has fixed the system. The system is toxic. And it is toxic because of money and because of money we are now realizing we are living in an oligarchy. Why? Because we can't seem to stop it and because the GOP has sold out to it.

And they now seem to despise real democracy. Our military was supposed to, in WW2, "make the world safe for democracy." Now, as Ike warned, it is a military-industrial complex trying to maintain American supremacy in a very volatile world. We really seem to be making the world safe for oil barons. And we can do better if we can get our heads together as We the People. But money is a hard task-master and human slavery is so profitable.

But why choose Democrats? Because the GOP is still leading us into the winds of anarcho-capitalism and that means we will not see an end to our economic woes. Americans For Prosperity indeed.

I will agree that the system as a whole has failed. But since the two major parties have done all they can to make sure they are the only game in town, any failures lie on both sides. Harry Reid and the democrats could easily be open to republican ideas just like John Boehner and the republicans could be open to democrat ideas.

But honestly, both sides play the same game. When they are in power, they do not want the other side to have a say. When they are not in power, they whine about how the other side is not letting them play.

The truth is that easier side could change things but they don't.

Now, has the republican party failed? Doubtful. What it is going through is not unlike what the democratic party went through at the turn of the century with the Green party. And some democrats know the republicans put forth good ideas but because they are afraid of losing their next election, vote otherwise.

I honestly think we'll see a reduction in corporate taxes soon on a federal level. Many democrats would support it, but rather than do it, they will play politics instead of compromise, hoping that the republicans come into control again, make it happen, so they can say its about money to the rich even though they know it is a major way to keep more money in the country.

And its not about the rich, you'd do it as well. If Kansas started to tax you at 60% but you found out that if you keep your money in a bank in Colorado, you could avoid that tax, what would you do?

So in the end, the system has failed. But the problem is that the ones that are in power to fix the system are the ones to cause it to break in the first place, so how can we expect the system to ever be fixed?

keep it up buddy. You are showing those other libs just how much more you are out of touch than they are. Your making these guys on here look like angels. Almost make me feel for our libs. I said almost

Now we'll tell you what YOU THINK,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

Actually, as I grew up, my father was a democrat and worked in a trade union. He is much older now and does tend to be more conservative, but I cannot say that I was indoctrinated into being a conservative. I took economics at KSU as well as a wonderful Money and Banking class where the professor tried to tell us that by the creation of debt, everything would solve itself. That struck me instantly as flawed.

My beliefs are not handed to me by talk show hosts or radio personalities. They are mine. They were developed by looking at the whole picture and not a small minded part that most liberals tend to look at. My beliefs are not based on jealously of others, which again most liberals do. My beliefs are also not about what will get my "side" the most votes (again, a liberal ploy).

I got a job out of college and went to work. If I wanted more, I did not cry to the government. If I did not like what I was doing, I could find another job. I did not spend all my money on lifestyle and trendy things. I saved. It was something I learned to do on my own and was not really taught by my parents.

As I have said, I do not belong to a political party and never will.

So call me bull headed if you want, but conservative policies WILL produce long term success that is sustainable. Liberal policies look for quick results but since the results are artificial, they cannot sustain themselves and disappear once the money is gone. And I could go on, but it does not look like you can be civil in this discussion.. Tis a shame.

People have blindly followed corrupt leaders throughout history. It's as old as civilization. But what corrupt leaders must have are true believers that embrace corruption in order maintain power, or willing stooges that follow because they don't know any better and are just following the herd....you know, like sheep or lemmings. Independent thought is not required, and even discouraged by ridicule and intimidation.

should by now be very clear to us - we are being led by people who are either trying to destroy our nation or who do not know what they are doing.

Either way, the answer to getting out of the present situation is the same. Right now we don't have time to waste assigning blame. The wise thing is to blame ourselves for electing for such as we have, and let this cause great remorse to ensure that we don't allow it to happen again. We can not let our government ever again get so far beyond the restraints. Our government has been drifting left for a long time, but recently we have been jerked hard to the left. Now there is rising pressure to turn back. Change is inevitable.

people I see in a panic is the Liberals like Lucy. Why are you all so worried about the Republican's? Seems like you sure spend a lot of time talking about them when you claim they dont mean anything or have any chances at beating out Hillary. Maybe you should be more worried about your own side. But oh yhea Hillary is in like flint. Right? Why don't you tell us all about her accomplishments as a world leader? And please be able to use some type of facts. Not just the usual blow and go away like most of you do.

forget to visit Kevin's Fri. blog for a list of candidates . Oh yhea Gimme are you on for the beer summit at Sara's? Please send in your reservation as space may be limited to others. Flags will be provided as long as you turn them back in when you leave. Must be the same color as issued.

we have become a selfish, greedy people. Our government has become a big lottery game. Get what you can get before the gravy train runs dry! Instant gratification and the attitude that if "they" get something for nothing, then I had better get the same thing or it is not fair! It is not about "asking not what your country can do for you but asking what you can do for your country", it is take the freebies and run and then come back when they are gone and asking for more! Illegals see it as the best game in town and are anxious to get in on the action.
Whether it is Democrats, Republicans or otherwise, the candidates that remain committed to actually "serving" their country or state rather than wanting to keep the job for the "paycheck" are few and far between. Then, once we allow them to make their money in the profession that should be about service to the people, then they enjoy the "power" and prestige too much to give it up and we are too complacent to not allow the to do it. It is also a case of not wanting to vote out a "gift horse".
Failure to plan is a plan to fail. We have, as a whole, become so adept at flying by the seat of our pants in planning for the future, hoping something or someone will bale us out of any financial jam in which we allow ourselves to get involved.
What's wrong with the Republican party Lucinda? What makes you think that there is anything more wrong with the principles of the "real" Republican agenda than there is with the real Democratic agenda? Both parties have been hijacked by self-serving egomanics. If you think the likes of Harry Reed and Nancy Pelosi have any more honor that any of the higher ranking Republicans, then I really feel sorry for your ignorance!